Arcane’s Budget Might Be Much Higher Than You Thought (And It Shows)

We are only a few days away from Arcane’s long-awaited second season, which is arriving on Netflix. Split down the center, the first batch of installments will arrive on November 9th and the second half will be unleashed on November 23rd. While this second season will bring an end to the animated fight featuring siblings Jinx and Vi, Riot Games has stated in the past that they are looking to expand on its animated output. Now, in a new Variety interview, a co-founder of the company has revealed how much Arcane cost and how the budget was put to good use.

For those who might not be familiar with Arcane, the series focuses on two cities known as Piltover and Zaun. The former sits above the latter, celebrating its prosperity and working on creating new technologies. Zaun is a city that is struggling to survive as both Jinx and Vi take radically different approaches to life. When last we left the sisters, Jinx was attempting to take out her hatred on Piltover’s ruling class and had unleashed a missile into their boardroom, giving us one of the biggest cliffhangers in animated history. The animation itself was well worth the $250 million USD that acted as Arcane’s budget.

Riots Games Co-Founder Speaks

Riot Games Co-Founder Marc Merrill shared his thoughts on the company’s further move into the entertainment world during a recent talk with Variety, “Our ambitions in entertainment haven’t changed,” Merrill wrote in an email responding to questions for this article. “We were never intending to operate like a traditional studio with traditional timelines. What did change as we learned more was our expectations of ourselves: We realized that getting it right takes a lot more time than we’d originally expected, and so we recalibrated our development, output goals and teams with that in mind.”

In discussing Arcane’s hefty price tag of $250 million, Merril was more than happy to put this money behind the Netflix series, “We’re more than comfortable with the spend it took to deliver a show that was worthy of our players’ time.” On the flip side, the Riot Games co-creator discussed the future for the company in this realm, “I understand why that change could feel to some folks like we’re moving away from our aspirations in entertainment, but that’s absolutely not the case. We have projects in development and are just as excited about the possibilities in TV and film as we’ve ever been.”

Netflix’s Anime/Video Game Crossovers Are a Success

Arcane is just one of many video game adaptations that have premiered on Netflix. In recent years, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, Castlevania Nocturne, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, Dragon’s Dogma, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. In the future, the streaming service has confirmed that both Castlevania and Tomb Raider will return with second seasons and Devil May Cry is getting similar treatment thanks to producer Adi Shankar.

Nothing has been set in stone with what is to come for Riot Games once Arcane ends. Certainly, considering that League of Legends has been creating new characters for years, there are plenty of new figures to push to the forefront for whatever new animated projects arrive down the line. As the game has continued riding high in its overall popularity, it makes sense that it would see some serious expansion across many avenues.

Want to see what the future holds for Jinx and Vi? Want to learn what Riot Games will create in the animated world? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on all things Arcane and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via Variety